Thursday, May 23, 2013

21 Proms

edited by: David Levithan and Daniel Ehrenhaft
published: Scholastic
pages: 289

It's prom, and no matter which way you experience it, it will be memorable. 21 authors have taken the time to share their take on this rite of passage moment in high school.

Over all, this collection was a really entertaining group of extremely unique prom experiences.  Each story had it's own format: one was a one act play, others memoirs and also fiction.  I really liked that there was a memoir among the fiction stories.  For one, I think memoir is sometimes more humorous because it actually happened.  And had I not known that the story was a memoir, it would have read like fiction.

The thing I like about anthologies is that you get a taste of everyone.  You get to find out if there's an author you have somehow missed in your journey as a reader.  I have found several authors this way, notably: David Levithan and Holly Black.  In fact, there are a couple from this collection that I would like to read more of now, including Melissa de la Cruz and Adrienne Maria Vrettos.

I don't know that I would have picked up this anthology had I not been prompted by a reading list, but I am glad that I did.  Each story had a unique take on the ritual experience from the supernatural to the super-typical.  There wasn't a story I didn't like reading, even if I enjoyed some more than others.

Stars 3.5/5

Praise:

"Ranging from sad to funny to truly disastrous, these memorable stories mark that oh-so-important rite of passage for many teenagers."
     --New York Public Library, starred review

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